A Girl & a Soul Reaper
by The-Fickle-Lady
Summary: A follow-up to "The Burden of Fear". A series of prompts chronicling Yuzu and Hisagi's budding friendship through the years following the events of "The Burden of Fear".
1. Chapter 1

Bleach

A Girl &amp; a Soul Reaper

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Summary: A follow-up to "The Burden of Fear". A series of prompts focusing on Hisagi and Yuzu and their budding friendship following the events of "The Burden of Fear".

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1\. Dance

It took awhile for anyone to work up the will to celebrate the end of the war, but it did happen eventually and a huge party was thrown by the Shinigami Women's Association as a result. Early on in the festivities, Hisagi felt a tap on a shoulder that pulled him away from his conversation with Hinamori. "Yuzu?" Hisagi was surprised to see the girl. He hadn't seen her since he brought her and her sister to the Soul Society weeks earlier. She smiled brightly up at him. "Hello, Mr. Hisagi. I was wondering if you'd like to dance with me?" She greeted him, her cheeks turning pink. Hisagi felt his own cheeks heat up with embarrassment. "I'm a bit old for you, don't you think?" He replied, looking around to make sure her father or brother wasn't giving him dirty looks. Hinamori was hiding a smile behind her hand as she watched the interaction. Yuzu smiled sheepishly. "Please, Mr. Hisagi." She pleaded quietly. "I don't know anyone else here really." Hisagi couldn't say no after hearing that, dirty looks or no. He took tentatively the girl's hand and said, "Well if you put it that way." Yuzu's face lit up with a bright, thankful smile.

2\. Clip

"Are hair clips weird here? The only other person I've seen wear one is that pink haired girl and she's, well, a bit odd even for this place, it seems." Yuzu sullenly asked Hisagi as she fiddled with the cat-shaped clip keeping her bangs out of her face. Hisagi nearly cringed. He was no good when it came to girls and their questions about their looks. He'd learn the hard way to say they looked great regardless of the truth. "Hinamori wears a hair clip." He said, hoping that answer would suffice. "So hair clips aren't childish?" Yuzu asked. If Hisagi was the brutally honest type, he'd say yes, hair clips were childish to a certain degree. But he didn't want Yuzu to feel like she stuck out or looked like a little kid. "No, Yuzu, they aren't." He told her instead.

3\. Poor

"Mr. Hisagi, why do you always go over to Lieutenant Omaeda's for dinner?" Asked Yuzu with quizzical tilt of her head. Her eyes suddenly went wide and her cheeks flushed bright red. "Are you two in some sort of relationship? Oh, wait, I'm sorry! I shouldn't ask such personal questions!" She apologized, steadily growing redder with embarrassment. Hisagi was in a similar predicament. "It's not like that!" He protested. "I just go there for the free food. Plus Omaeda was a fellow lieutenant of mine, so it wasn't weird or anything. We enjoy each other's company." He explained. Yuzu's blush began to fade as she looked at him with worried eyes.

"But you go there so often. Surely you have enough money to buy your own food most nights." Hisagi sighed deeply, mentally berating himself for worrying the poor girl. "Well, you see, I'm a bit of a miser. I grew up in the woods, which is a fancy way of saying I grew up poor. Since I had high spiritual pressure, I had to eat, which I sadly didn't have money to do. I had to forage for food in the woods, and when I did have money, it was only enough for very cheap food." Yuzu nodded understandingly at his explanation. "Oh, that makes sense. But ya know, Mr. Hisagi, you don't have to eat at Omaeda's all the time. You're welcome to come eat at my house too." Yuzu informed him with a kind smile. Hisagi wondered how the rest of the Kurosaki family and the Shiba's would feel about Yuzu's offer.

4\. Crime

Yuzu's wanderings in the poorer districts of the Soul Society quickly became widely known around the seireitei. She was searching for her mother apparently. A couple days a week, Yuzu would rise at dawn and would not return until night fall, usually with her clothes covered in dirt, sore feet, and a heavy heart. One day, she returned with a limp as well.

"I'm fine. I just got pushed around a little. Nothing bad happened." Yuzu assured Hisagi, who had the misfortune of being the first to find her limping her way towards Squad Four. "Yuzu, you're the daughter of a Captain and sister of one of the most of powerful soul reapers who has ever existed. Pushing you around a little could be seen as a crime." Hisagi chastised the girl on his back. Yuzu's arms tightened angrily around his neck. "I came here to continue my life with my family, Hisagi, not to be treated like a princess!" She shouted. "Okay, fine, just stop choking me!" Grunted Hisagi. Yuzu loosened her grip with a quiet, embarrassed apology.

5\. X-Ray

"The good thing is that Orihime can heal that in no time flat. Just sit tight until she gets here, Shuhei." Isshin said before taking his leave of the room. A moment later, Yuzu slipped in. She cringed at the sight of him. "Oh dear. Renji really did a number on you in training, didn't he?" She remarked, approaching Hisagi's bedside. "Yeah, I shouldn't have let myself get so overconfident just because I'm wearing a Captain's haori now. Thankfully, it's just a broken arm." Hisagi said, flinching as his attempt to shift his slinged arm into a comfortable position backfired.

"Don't move, Hisagi. You'll only hurt yourself more." Yuzu warned him sternly. "It's going to be all healed by dinner time, I don't see how it matters." Said Hisagi. "I don't care if it's healed this next second. Don't put yourself through anymore needless pain." Yuzu shot back, her eyes flashing with...not anger really. More like irritation, Hisagi decided, as Yuzu was the type to rarely be _angry_.

There was something else there as well. _Worry_, Hisagi realized. "I apologize. I should listen to what you and your father say, regardless of how quickly I heal." He said, bowing his head respectfully. "Don't apologize, Hisagi. Please, just rest. You work so hard; you need it." Yuzu quietly replied. Hisagi nodded and leaned back against the pillows to take a short nap before Inoue arrived.

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**A/N: Thank you for reading. Please review! **

**1/5**


	2. Chapter 2

6\. Ice

"If Captain Hitsugaya and Rukia can both make ice and snow with their swords, why can't they put a stop to this heat wave?" Yuzu asked as she fanned herself with the paperwork she had volunteered to help Hisagi with that morning. It was now mid-afternoon and they'd given up, knowing they'd only succeed in smudging all the ink with their sweat if they continued. They sat by the open windows of Hisagi's office, hoping to catch a cool breeze. "I don't know. Maybe they're secretly sadists who like watching the rest of us melt while they sip hot chocolate." Hisagi replied grimly. "Selfish grim reaper snowmen." Yuzu grumbled petulantly. Hisagi hid his face in the pillow of his sweaty arms to smother his laughter.

7\. Flower

It turned out the Shiba home was not a good place to keep a garden. "This is the third one to catch on fire." Yuzu lamented as she scavenged the ashes for surviving flowers and vegetables. Hisagi and Ganju were helping her. Hisagi because he'd come to consider Yuzu a friend in the last four years, and Ganju it was his fireworks that caused the destruction of Yuzu's garden.

"I'm sorry, Yuzu. I really did try and avoid making your flowers casualties of my experiment." Ganju apologized for the twelfth time. Yuzu sighed dismally and shook her head. "It's okay. Maybe I should just give up." She said. Hisagi couldn't bear to see such a usually bright and cheerful girl so crestfallen. "Or maybe you could, well actually you_ can_ keep your garden at the Squad Nine barracks, if you want." He suggested. Yuzu and Ganju looked at him with surprise. "Do you mean that, Hisagi?" Yuzu asked hopefully. Hisagi nodded and Yuzu let out a squeal, throwing herself at Hisagi to embrace him.

8\. School

When Yuzu came to the Soul Society, she declined to join Shin'o Academy, so her father employed a tutor for her, to insure her education wouldn't end with human middle school. Six years later, Isshin politely sent the tutor away, as his services were no longer acquired. Yuzu had learned all she could from him.

The following day, Yuzu came to Hisagi's office to mope on his couch. "If I had stayed in the world of the living, I would be attending university now. Do you have anything like that here in the Soul Society, Hisagi?" She asked him after a half hour of silent sulking. "There's Shin'o Academy for soul reapers. And I suppose there's a few schools for nobles out there to become lawyers, judges, clerks, and such." Hisagi answered her absently as he worked.

Yuzu was quiet for a long time, which put Hisagi a bit on edge. "Would I make a good soul reaper, you think, Hisagi?" She asked at last. Hisagi looked up then and leveled Yuzu with a stern look. "Yuzu, don't become a soul reaper just for something to do now that you don't have your studies to occupy you." He chided her. Yuzu blushed shamefacedly and nodded. "You're right, Hisagi, I just...What am I supposed to do now? Ichigo's married. Karin's going to graduate soon and live with her squad most of the time. My dad spends most of his time with his squad nowadays too. And the Shiba's are family, I know, but I...My studies were a welcome distraction but now that distraction is gone. What do I do now, Hisagi?"

From Hisagi's point of view, the answer was simple: "Anything you want, Yuzu."

9\. Light

As they neared the end of the senkaimon, Yuzu's heart rate began to pick up. This would be her first time back in the human world in over fifteen years. She wondered how the world had changed, what had become of Karakura Town and all her old friends. She fidgeted with the end of her skirt, wondering if her clothes would be out of style or weird.

_What if there are hover-boards and flying cars now?! _Yuzu thought in a fit of panic. The thought nearly made her faint. _This must be what time traveling would feel like_, she thought nervously. Unexpectedly, Hisagi took her hand and she looked at him with confusion. Even in the dark, Yuzu could see Hisagi's red cheeks. "Sometimes the senkaimon opens up in high places. If it does, just hang on to me and I'll get us to the ground all right." He warned her.

Just as Yuzu was about to reply, light flooded into the senkaimon. Turning away from Hisagi, Yuzu was greeted by the bright blue sky of the human world. She smiled so hard it hurt her cheeks.

10\. Candy

"Happy birthday, Yuzu." Hisagi said, handing the girl her gift. She unwrapped the tiny package with a wide smile and let out a delighted squeal at the sight of the contents. "Candies from the World of the living!" She cheered. "When did you have time to get these?" She asked.

"While you were fiddling with your bike, I stopped by a sweet shop near the school." Hisagi explained. "Your mouth was all but watering when he walked past it, so..." He trailed off sheepishly. Yuzu turned bright red and gave Hisagi a respectful bow. "Thank you so very much, Hisagi!"


	3. Chapter 3

11\. Apple

"So William Tell is a_ game_?" Hisagi asked incredulously. Yuzu furiously shook her head. "No, no, it's a story. Stupid people just make the challenges from the story into a suicidal game." She insisted. Hisagi sighed in relief. "Good. I'd hate to think human children shot apples off each other's heads while blindfolded."

"I wonder if Quincy children did." Yuzu commented, looking up at the sky over the Squad Nine barracks thoughtfully. Hisagi, for many reasons, wouldn't put it past them to have, but he didn't say anything to Yuzu, whose mother had been a Quincy apparently.

It was a hard image to reconcile in Hisagi's mind. Sweet Yuzu related, however distantly, to the likes of Bambiette, Bazz-B, and Yhwach; it was just bizarre!

Yuzu plucked an apple from the basket between the two of them and examined it absently before casting Hisagi a sidelong glance and smiled impishly at him. "Hey, Hisagi, if I learned how to shoot a bow and arrow, would you let me shoot an apple off your head? Not blindfolded, of course!" She said it as a joke, but it scared Hisagi to know that she had been serious, he would have trusted her enough to answer yes.

12\. Grove

After a hundred years, the sprawling forest Hisagi had grown up in had been diminished to a small grove no bigger than a few square miles by the people of the district. Hisagi's home was now covered by many dozens of newer homes. "This reminds me of those stories about animals who lose their habitats to human civilization." Yuzu remarked quietly as she followed closely behind Hisagi through the grove. "I'm so sorry, Hisagi." She added sadly.

"No," Hisagi said. "It's all right."

"But this was your home." Yuzu protested.

"Nah, my home is Squad Nine. This forest was just the place I grew up. And now, new children get to grow up here." Yuzu smiled admiringly at him.

"That's a very noble way of looking at things, Hisagi."

13\. Splinter

"What do you mean you don't own tweezers? Everyone owns tweezers!" Yuzu cried as she cradled her injured hand. Two soul reapers had gotten a little _enthusiastic_ with the wooden training swords during training, and Yuzu, who had been watching, had ended up with a hand full of splinters from where she shielded her face. Hisagi was going to chew those men out into hamburger later. Once he took care of Yuzu, of course.

"I don't pluck my eyebrows. I'm not a girl." Hisagi defended himself as he rummaged through his toiletries cabinet for something to get the splinters out. He didn't want to go to Squad Four just yet. That was Captain Kurosaki's division, and Hisagi did not look forward to explaining how his beloved daughter ended up hurt under his watch.

"Hisagi," Yuzu whimpered. "My hand is starting to bleed."

At that announcement, Hisagi ceased his search. He was only putting Yuzu in more pain by not immediately taking her to her father. He felt guilty for not taking her sooner. Wordlessly, he took her good hand and gently tugged her to her feet from where she'd been sitting on the floor. "Come on, let's take you to your father."

14\. Surprise

"Surprise! Happy birthday, Hisagi!" The entirey of Squad Nine and much of the seireitei's upper ranks cheered in unison as Hisagi stepped into the dining hall of the Squad Nine barracks. His friends swarmed around him, wishing him a happy two hundredth birthday. Hisagi quickly shook off his shock and started thanking everyone with his broadest grin.

"You should be thanking Rangiku and Yuzu." Said Nanao. "It was their idea." The rest of the lieutenants nodded their wholehearted agreement. "All of this is thanks to them and their pidheaded opposition to your insistence that none of us make a big deal out of your birthday this year." Rukia threw in cheerfully. She was absolutely covered in glitter, which Hisagi guessed explained the massive number of bunny-themed decorations.

15\. Pattern

Isshin set the precedent. Ichigo continued the tradition, Karin right on his heels. Yuzu was all but doomed to follow the same pattern, whether she wanted to or not. She berated herself without end for doing it anyways. "This is r-ridiculous." Yuzu hiccuped as Karin topped off her sake. "It's been twenty five years, why is this happening now?" She whined, curling into a ball of gloom and doom that preturbed the slightly more sober Karin. "Calm down, Yuzu." She slurred at her twin. "I can't!" Yuzu shouted, curling into herself further. If she kept up like that she'd turn into a hedgehog.

"So you've fallen in love with Hisagi. Big whoop! You're nearly forty now. It's about time you took the messy tumble like the rest of us." Karin said with a shrug. Yuzu uncurled simply to scowl at her twin. "I'm only sixteen physically, same as you, Karin." Yuzu's face twisted with a grimace. "And Hisagi is physically in his twenties, and really a lot older. I'm just a little girl to him. He'll never feel the same." She muttered, her depressed aura growing stronger as she moped in the darkest corner of the roo. "Hey, quit that! You'll sprout mushrooms!" Karin slurred.

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**A/N: Thank you for reading! Please review! **

**3/5**


	4. Chapter 4

16\. Ripe

Since Yuzu moved her garden to the Squad Nine barracks twenty years before, the seasonal harvest had become a popular pastime among squad members. So when the fruits and vegetables were ripe for the pickings, Yuzu never found herself short on helpers. Even Hisagi cleared his schedule to come out and help when he could.

"Look at the size of this head of cabbage!" Hisagi exclaimed, holding the leafy vegetable next to his skull for comparison. It was almost twice as big! A squad member from the editorial staff snapped a picture. "That's definitely going in this week's issue." He remarked before returning to photographing the flowers on the other end of the garden.

Hisagi handed the giant cabbage to Yuzu, only for the surprising heft of the vegeteable to send the girl stumbling backwards and tripping over its brethren and the squash with a shriek. "Yuzu!" Hisagi cried, reaching out to catch her, only to end up going down with her. They landed with a chorus of crunches, two loud groans, and several exclamations from the surprised squad members around them. The fallen pair were quickly encircled by fretting soul reapers.

"Oh man, they squashed the squash." One less than sympathetic onlooker grumbled under his breath.

17\. Secret

"Renji, Izuru, can you two keep a secret?" Hisagi whispered across the table, careful of the ears of the other bar patrons. Renji and Kira blinked at him with confusion. "Well sure, Shuhei, that should be obvious. You're our friend." Renji answered. Shuhei shook his head in the melodramatic forlorn way only to the truly wasted could achieve. "No, no, this is a very big secret. You have to swear on everything that you won't tell a _soul_." The drunk Ninth Divison Captain insisted. Renji and Kira, both still fairly sober, exchanged exasperated glances before swearing on "everything" not to tell a soul.

Hisagi grinned victoriously like a little kid before sobering (not literally, unfortunately) and beckoning them to lean in closer to hear his grave secret. "I think I might have feelings for Yuzu." He confessed in a slurred whisper. Renji and Kira recoiled with shock before looking at each other to confirm the other had just heard what they heard.

"Oh man. I wonder who's going to kill you first. Ichigo or his dad." Renji shook his head before knocking back another drink. "Good luck with that, Shuhei. It was nice knowing ya." Kira remarked as he topped himself off. Hisagi gave them the most betrayed look from across the table.

18\. Safari

"Let's go on a safari, kids!" Yuzu declared, hopping to her feet and leading her niece and several other soul reaper's children on a...whatever a safari was. Hisagi guessed it was a human world thing. "She's great with them, isn't she?" Hisagi turned to see Rangiku and Hinamori approaching. "Yeah, she is." Hisagi agreed.

"Who knew we needed a daycare program so dearly in the seireitei." Momo remarked, watching as Yuzu and her assistants (five unranked members of Squad Four) played with the children in the courtyard of Squad Four. There were two dozen children ranging from toddlers to physical preteens. They were all the children of soul reapers, or at least the ones who had no one to look after their children while they were on duty. Momo wasn't the first to wonder why this service hadn't been provided before.

"I'd think Yuzu would make a great mother someday." Said Rangiku. "And a lovely wife. All those things seem right up her alley. No wonder so many of the guys have crushes on her." Momo added. "Don't let any of the Squad Five guys get their hopes up." Rangiku warned her fellow lieutenant in a whisper that screamed gossip. "I heard Yuzu has eyes for one man only." Hisagi tried very hard not to grimace or feel jealous, but it was difficult, especially with the way Rangiku and Hinamori giggled, which served to tell him they knew who Yuzu liked and weren't prepared to let him know who he was.

19\. Disaster

"I'm so sorry, Hisagi! Please forgive me!" Yuzu apologized profusely as she cleaned the spilled ink from Hisagi's desk. She'd been bringing him some tea when she'd knocked over a jar of ink, ruining a third of his finished paperwork and the work he'd been in the middle of when she'd caused the tiny disaster. "Yuzu, it's honestly fine." Hisagi insisted, trying to wave off her attempts at cleaning up the clean.

He didn't say anything about it for Yuzu's sake, but her efforts to clean up the mess were only making it worse. The wood of his desk was going to end up stained, and the sleeves her kimono were going to be ruined. Hisagi personally had ink smeared up to his elbows and under his fingernails, to say nothing of Yuzu's ink black hands and smudged cheek. The worst part was how guilty Yuzu looked, however.

In a last ditch effort to neutralize the situation, Hisagi swiped his fingers through the ink on his desk and drew three lines on each of Yuzu's cheeks before finally dotting her nose. She looked at him like he was crazy until he sheepishly gestured for her to look at her reflection in the window. One look and she started cracking up.

20\. Sleep

In the twenty-eight years Hisagi and Yuzu had been friends, the girl had never once stayed in Hisagi's company longer than a few hours after dark. Usually the last Hisagi saw of her each day, when he wasn't especially busy that is, was right before dinner began, though she had stayed for dinner a few times in the past. Whether she stayed for dinner or not, once Yuzu left the Squad Nine barracks, she went straight to Squad Four to either spend the night there or stay goodnight to her father before heading back to the Shiba home. It was a nightly ritual practically.

Kurosaki's had a penchent for disrupting rituals. Even their own, as it turned out.

"_Shuhei, Yuzu didn't get home last night according to Kukaku and she isn't with Squad Four. I contacted Karin and Ichigo and neither of them have seen her since yesterday afternoon. If you find her or know her whereabouts, please contact me_." With Isshin's message delivered, the Hell butterfly flew back out Hisagi's office window, leaving the tattooed captain puzzled over how to explain to his fellow captain that he and his young daughter fell asleep on the floor of his office last night midway through a human world game called _Monopoly_.

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**A/N: thank you for reading! Please review!**

**4/5**


	5. Chapter 5

21\. Gamble

"I don't play for money." Yuzu insisted for the umpteenth time. "Oh come on," Rangiku pestered her. "Momo and I need one more player to make things fun. Plus you're good at cards, Yuzu. It's hardly a gamble." She (much) older woman said. Yuzu felt her will waver. "But I don't want to play for money. Money and friends don't mix, that's what dad always says." She protested weakly.

"That's just your dad's excuse not to pay for everyone's drinks when he's the one who invited everyone out in the first place." Rangiku countered, a wicked gleam in her eye that spoke of many exasperating years under Isshin Shiba's command. Yuzu let out a defeated sigh. But before Rangiku could grin victoriously, she said, "I'll only play if we gamble using something besides money."

"Like secrets?" Rangiku asked with a waggling eyebrow that made Yuzu turn tomato red. Seeing the young girl get so embarrassed, Rangiku embraced Yuzu. "Oh don't be embarrassed. I was just teasing. We don't have to gamble if you don't want to." She said. "Really?" Asked Yuzu. Rangiku nodded earnestly. For about ten seconds before she smiled wickedly at Yuzu. "Right after you tell me and Hinamori all about that night you spent cooped up in Hisagi's office." No amount of struggling could free Yuzu from Rangiku's "embrace" as the lieutenant carried her towards the Squad Five barracks for a "friendly" card game.

22\. Bone

"Come on, throw a dog a bone." Captain Kyoraku needled Hisagi, who after ten minutes was beginning to grow aggravated with the Head Captain's persistence. "Sir, I told you nothing happened between me and Miss Kurosaki last week. Now if you'll excuse me, I do have work to do." He tried to dismiss himself, yet again, only to be stopped, _yet again_. "Oh no you don't. You aren't leaving here until I know whether or not I should turn a blind eye to Isshin's coming attempts to murder you or not."

"Sir?" Hisagi asked confusedly.

"Hey, I may not seem it, but I'm on board when it comes to fathers protecting their daughters, as old fashioned as that may seem. I mean, we both know better, but you don't exactly look like the type of guy a man wants his daughter settling down with. Especially with all that talk about 'fear' and your guitar playing. How's that going by the way?"

"Better." Hisagi lied, steadily growing more uncomfortable, if possible after all the whispers that had been following him the last few days. Kyoraku nodded approvingly.

"That's nice. I'm sure Yuzu would love a romantic song for her birthday. Put any thought into that, hm?"

"I'm leaving now, sir."

"Fine. But if Isshin kicks you in the face at the next captains' meeting, don't come crying to me."

23\. Chest

Yuzu wasn't the jealous type. Honestly. But sometimes, standing next to Rangiku, she couldn't help but feel slightly bitter that her own frame was so lacking in comparison. "You're kidding, right?" Karin deadpanned upon Yuzu's sharing of this information with her sister. Yuzu frowned at her twin's words. "Oh, Karin, don't be like that." Yuzu hated to think her own twin sister wasn't taking her seriously.

Karin rolled her eyes. "Yuzu, watermelon boobs or no watermelon boobs, you're beyond beautiful, and everyone in the Soul Society knows it. Trust me." She assured her.

"But-"

"If you don't believe me, just ask Hisagi." Karin said before flash stepping away, leaving Yuzu very confused.

24\. Trick

"The trick is to add lemon zest." Yuzu advised Hisagi as he worked on the pie that would be served for dessert.

Hisagi had volunteered once again to supply the food for the Shinigami Men's Association, and for the first time ever, he asked for help. "I can't believe it's taken thirty years for us to cook together. Isn't that crazy, Hisagi?" Yuzu remarked as she fixed sandwiches. She felt confident about leaving Hisagi to more complicated dishes, especially after teaching him spices were his friend. "Yeah." Hisagi agreed. "I would have thought it'd have happened sooner, too."

The worked in companionable silence most of the time, only stopping to chat a few times, since they were on a bit of a tight schedule. When they were done, however, they found they had just enough time before the meeting to sample their own products.

Yuzu let out a pleased moan as she bit into the pie she entrusted to Hisagi earlier after letting him in out the lemon zest trick. Hisagi shared the sentiment, clearly. He gobbled down his slice in less than a minute, leaving a mess of cream on his lips. Yuzu giggled at the sight, and then more so as she recalled the romantic comedies of her childhood.

She couldn't resist. She reached out and wiped some cream from the corner of his mouth and popped the cream-covered finger into her own mouth. The face Hisagi made was adorable!

25\. Electric

The only time anyone in the Soul Society ever had a bad word to say about Yuzu was when she got Hisagi an electric guitar for his birthday. The only reason no one sneaked into the Squad Nine barracks and destroyed the wretched thing that very night was because no one wanted to the ass who put a damper on the otherwise wonderful evening.

"That was an awfully expensive gift that Yuzu got Hisagi." Said Rukia to Ichigo after the two left the party. "I tried to talk her into something less expensive, but she just wouldn't give up. Karin tried to do the same when she took her to the human world to buy the damn thing." Ichigo grumbled. Rukia smiled wryly at him.

"Don't act like that, Ichigo. It's actually really cute, and it's nice to see Yuzu growing up." She chastised him. Ichigo's brow furrowed with confusion. Rukia nearly rolled her eye, knowing what was coming next. "Wait, what do you mean she's 'growing up'? What does a guitar have to do with..." Ichigo trailed off as realization dawned on him. He shook his head, chuckling.

"I'm an idiot. Why didn't I see it sooner?" Rukia was proud to see Ichigo take his sister falling in love in stride and not act like a total brute about the whole thing. _People need give him more credit_, she thought fondly.

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**A/N: Thanks for reading! I may add for later! Please review!**

**5/5 (for now) **


	6. Chapter 6

26\. Insomnia

"Hisagi, when was the last time you slept?" Yuzu asked, looking at Hisagi with concern. He was practically bent in half over his desk as he did his paperwork, his head supported by his left arm rather than his own neck. The dark circles under his eyes were frightening. "I had a late one last night." He grumbled tiredly. Yuzu puckered her lips disapprovingly.

"That's the only ones you have lately, it seems like. If you keep up like this you'll regret it, Hisagi."

"I already do regret it. But what can I do? I have a squad to run and the _Seireitei Communication_. The fact I find the time to practice guitar is a miracle, let alone maintain my social life." Hisagi lamented as the words on the paper before him blurred.

"Please, just take a nap." Yuzu pleaded. "You have a lieutenant for a reason."

"A good captain doesn't pawn his work off on his subordinates, Yuzu." Said Hisagi.

"I don't care what a 'good captain' would do right now, Hisagi. I care that you're overworking yourself and you need to slow down." Yuzu shot back.

"You can't stop me." Hisagi pointed out exasperatedly. She had no means to, they both knew.

"You're suicidal." Yuzu let out a frustrated growl. "Ya know what? Fine. Go ahead and work yourself to a second a death! I'm not going to sit here and watch though." She huffed and marched out of his office. His lieutenant timidly entered a moment later. "Lover's spat, sir?" She asked. Hisagi chose to ignore that question.

27\. Opposites

Hisagi took Yuzu on a trip to the world of the living for her birthday that year. For a whole weekend, he promised, not just a single day. Yuzu suspected her was trying to make up for their recent fighting over his vendetta against sleep and slavish devotion to his work. Yuzu left Hanataro in charge of the daycare over the weekend, and Hisagi allowed his lieutenant and third seat to take over his share of paperwork for the two and a half days he'd be gone. That was a minor miracle in Yuzu's opinion.

She was thankful for Lieutenant Tsukino's insistence that he would happily take on the work. Though the wink she gave Yuzu before she and Hisagi left made her uncomfortable. There were a lot of winks when they left. As in, more than there were actual goodbyes or even 'happy birthday's.

Things in the human world weren't much better for the pair than they were in the Soul Society. Worse, actually. "I can't believe they gave us a one bedroom suite." Hisagi complained as he made his bed on the couch. Across the room, Yuzu was taking stalk of the suite's kitchenette. "Well, we are a young man and woman checking into a hotel together. People tend to assume." She said sheepishly. In truth, the fact a stranger thought she would be sharing a bed with Hisagi made her whole face feel hot. Like it wasn't bad enough that people still speculated about the _Monopoly _Incident back in the Soul Society.

"We must seem like a strange couple." Hisagi remarked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, just look at us. I look like this," Hisagi gestured to his tattoos and punk clothing (he looked like he was either in a biker gang or a band). "And you're you." He pointed to her entirely conventional clothes and "down-to-earth" looks. Karin said she dressed "more like a mom than Rukia." Yuzu personally felt that was an unfair comparison since Rukia wore her uniform all the time, and Yuzu took care of children for a living. "We look like total opposites, Yuzu. The guy at the desk could have just as easily thought I was your kidnapper." Said Hisagi.

Yuzu was thrown by Hisagi's statement. Because in all honesty, she hadn't thought about Hisagi's punkish exterior and how different he seemed from her on the outside in a long, long time. "Well, I don't care what the guy at the desk thinks, Hisagi." She declared matter-of-factly.

28\. Twilight

"I love twilight." Yuzu yawned as she stretched out on the couch in Hisagi's office like a lazy cat. The sun was setting, so the room was filled with the beautiful glow of twilight and dark shadows. Hisagi, who sat on the other end of the couch with her feet and his acoustic guitar in his lap, raised a playful eyebrow at her. "Please tell me you don't mean that book Inoue brought from the human world." He beseeched her dryly. Yuzu giggled and shook her head.

"I like twilight as in the time of day. Everything's so pretty and it feels like anything could happen. It's like dawn, only not miserable because it's not in the morning." Hisagi chuckled as he absently strummed the chords of his guitar. "Yeah, I like twilight too." He agreed, though his mind dwelled on three words she'd just spoken.

'Anything could happen'. Hisagi paused in his playing as he debated himself for several moments on end.

"Hisagi?" He looked over to see Yuzu sitting up on her elbows and looking at him with confusion. "Why did you stop playing? That sounded really good." _Don't ruin this_, Hisagi thought to himself as he apologized and picked up in the song where he left off.

29\. Touch

It started with the innocent brush of Yuzu's lips against his scarred cheek. "Goodnight!" She chirped and then she was off towards Squad Four, as was routine. Hisagi was left frozen in the gates of the Squad Nine courtyard, feeling like something in his and Yuzu's relationship had suddenly shifted. Eventually, he managed to convince himself it was a one time thing.

But it happened again the next night. And the next. And the night after that as well. It carried on for two weeks before escalating again.

"Goodnight, Hisagi." Yuzu whispered, pressing a kiss to the corner of his mouth rather deliberately. Her red cheeks when she pulled away indicated he wasn't imagining that last part. Hisagi didn't know how to react to these sudden advances, especially since they were coming from Yuzu. He never expected something like this to come from her.

The same pattern as before followed, where every night for a little over a week, she repeated her previous gesture without explanation besides her flushed cheeks, though those eventually disappeared as she was emboldened by his lack of resistance. Hisagi waited anxiously to see what she would do next. He didn't dare to hope this was anything more than a childish experiment on her part.

Finally, the day came when she hesitated when leaning forward to give him his nightly farewell kiss. She trembled as her lips hovered over his and eventually she came down from her toes and looked down with embarrassment.

"I'm sorry, Hisagi." She whispered. Hisagi braced himself, deciding it was his turn to be bold. He lifted her chin and leaned down to press his lips to hers.

30\. Eyes

It was her niece Mikan of all people who noticed first. "You have a dreamy look in your eyes lately, Yuzu." The physical ten year old observed. She was actually around twenty now, which threw Yuzu off to a degree. Aging was weird in the Soul Society and her and Mikan were prime examples of that fact: Yuzu had been forty when Mikan was born, but she had physically been sixteen. Now, twenty years later, while Mikan had aged ten years in fits and spurts, Yuzu had reached her physical early twenties at a snail's pace. Yuzu wished physical age didn't also apply to mental faculties. That way Mikan might have known not to comment on her aunt's recent state right in front of Grandpa Isshin and her dad.

"Dreamy, you say?" Isshin gave Yuzu a meaningful look. Yuzu avoided looking her father in the eye. "Yuzu is a real life Disney Princess, Dad, she always has a bit of a dreamy look in her eyes." Karin rushed to her defense. She was the only one Yuzu had told so far. Yuzu shot her twin a thankful smile.

"What's a Disney Princess?" Mikan asked her father. "I'll explain later." Ichigo said. "Go and put your shoes on. We'll be going home soon." Mikan nodded curtly and left Karin's sitting room. Once his daughter was gone, Ichigo turned his attention to his youngest sister. He was smiling playfully, which couldn't be good, Yuzu decided.

"There something you'd like to share, Yuzu?" He entreated her with barely contained smirk.

"No." Yuzu answered quickly. Probably too quickly.

"Really, because you seem pretty jumpy." Dad said.

"Really, I have no idea what Mikan was on about." Yuzu insisted. She nearly cringed at the looks her father and brother exchanged.

Yuzu knew that they were probably already catching on to what she was hiding, and that it probably didn't make sense that she was hiding the truth from them, but she had good reason. Since their kiss, Yuzu and Hisagi had yet to straighten out what exactly their relationship was: were they dating now? Didn't you have to go on a date to be dating? Were they simply 'together'? How 'together' were they exactly? Hell if either of them knew. Until such time as they did, Yuzu was trying not to talk about it with anyone except Karin, who was the only person she trusted not to tell anyone, not even her boyfriend.

"Are you sure, Yuzu?" Ichigo asked. He clearly wanted to her to tell him, but Yuzu couldn't and wouldn't.

"Yes, please, just let it go." She said.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for reading! Please review! **


	7. Chapter 7

31\. Couch

Yuzu and Shuhei eventually did straighten out what they meant to each other. Right on the couch in his office. It was just their luck that Lieutenant Tsukino walked in and walked right out again during without either noticing. Later, as Yuzu walked towards Squad Four, she felt like every soul reaper she passed knew that she'd just been necking with a captain in his office. Little did she know, they most likely did.

Unfortunately for her, she did not learn this until she was woken the next morning in the Squad Four barracks by a persistent knocking at her door. With a groan, Yuzu crawled out of bed and opened the door.

"Ye-"

"That's my girl!" Rangiku squealed, embracing Yuzu like a proud mother. Yuzu struggled in the woman's grasp, her mind racing as she tried to think of what she could have done to make Rangiku proud of her while simultaneously thanking the powers that be that she'd grown tall enough to avoid being suffocated. "Rangiku, please let go! You're crushing me." Yuzu pleaded. Rangiku released her with a Cheshire cat grin and went straight to eyeballing Yuzu up and down, particularly her neck.

It was then that Yuzu realized what Rangiku was over the moon about this morning. She turned red head to toe just as Rangiku let out a tiny squeal. "Well looky here! Hisagi left a little mark. Pretty smart of him to put it where you could hide it with your kimono." Yuzu's hand automatically slapped to cover the apex between her neck and shoulder. "Other side, sweetie." Said Rangiku. Yuzu switched sides, growing redder by the second.

Rangiku's grin finally subsided into a simple pleased smile. "I'm so glad you two finally stopped chasing your tails and got together. Really, I'm happy for you two and so proud of you for going after what you wanted, Yuzu." She said.

Yuzu felt like a child again under Rangiku's motherly smile. She gave the older woman a sheepish smiled as she asked, "How'd you find out?"

Rangiku gave Yuzu a sympathetic look. "Everyone in the seireitei knows. First rule of relationships, Yuzu: always lock the door."

"Duly noted." Yuzu sighed.

32\. Blindfold

"I don't think this is much better than William Tell." Hisagi asserted as he put on the blindfold. "I told you, Hisagi. William Tell isn't a game. Breaking the Pinata, on the other hand, is." Yuzu said, handing him the bat. One of the children at the daycare had a birthday today and so Yuzu decided to throw a small party for him. Unfortunately, none of the children managed to break the pinata she ordered for the occasion. Hisagi, who had come to pay her a lunch time visit, had volunteered to break it for them, but Yuzu would only allow it if he did it the proper way.

"Humans have strange customs." Hisagi commented as Yuzu and the kids spun him in circles to make him dizzy. "Didn't you used to be a human?" Yuzu asked. "I died when I was a toddler. It hardly counts." Hisagi answered as he stumbled in the direction of the donkey-shaped pinata hanging from the tree. The children began to cheer loudly and bounce on the balls of their feet in anticipation of candy.

"Smash it, Captain Hisagi!" Some children called out.

"Break it! Break it! Break it!" Others chanted, grinning madly.

"Come on, Shuhei!" Yuzu shouted over the clamor. "Show that donkey who's boss!"

Hisagi's lips curled into a smile as he took a single swing and practically obliterated the pinata, sending candy raining everywhere. All the children screamed with glee and swarmed to Hisagi's feet to grab their long awaited treats. Hisagi pulled off his blindfold and smiled across the sea of children at Yuzu.

"So where's my treat?" He boldly inquired, making Yuzu flush bright red.

33\. Hate

Ever since the _Monopoly _Incident, Hisagi had suspected that Isshin Kurosaki harbored a fatherly hatred towards him. Not because he was an insanely protective father (though he was), but likely because he thought Hisagi was going to end up leading Yuzu on. Captains weren't exactly known for their marriagability, or even their dateability. Isshin likely did not like the prospect of Yuzu, his most domestic child, ending up chasing after a man who would never give her the things she wanted out of life because of his position.

That in mind, Hisagi wondered how the man would react to his and Yuzu's relationship after it went public. In all honesty, he expected a lengthy discussion about shovels and the mysterious disappearances of captains becoming an unquestioned tradition.

Instead, Hisagi got a firm pat on the back on the way out of a captains' meeting and a sentence that made him even more uncomfortable than the aforementioned shovel talk would have: "It'd be really cool if you named your future son Isshin."

34\. Fire

"Campfires seem a whole lot more romantic in the movies." Said Yuzu, clasping her hands to her mouth and nose to fend off the stench of the fire pit. "That's because usually the couple is _alone_ by the fire." Karin grumbled, giving all the other couples gathered around the pit a disparaging look. Ichigo feigned no guilt where he sat between his sleeping wife and daughter. It was just like him to bring Mikan along on their camping trip, which Yuzu thought was cute, but she wouldn't tell Karin that.

"I kind of like it." Hisagi admitted. "It's like a family get-together."

"That's better than calling it a triple date, I guess." Karin's boyfriend Naoki said. Karin gave him a light punch in the arm. "That doesn't excuse the fact I wanted us to be alone this weekend." She whispered harshly. Naoki rolled his eyes but apologized anyways, promising their next weekend off would be just the two of them.

Ichigo took that as his cue to take himself and his family back to their tent, and not long afterwards, Karin and Naoki disappeared into theirs, leaving Yuzu and Hisagi curled up alone next to the dying fire. "I see why Karin was riled." Yuzu whispered. "I mean, I feel the same way. It would have been nice if we had more time to ourselves, that doesn't involve me playing secretary or you popping in on the daycare at lunch time." Hisagi tensed beside her.

"I'm sorry. This must be a poor start to our relationship, spending my first weekend off with you in the company of two other couples." He quietly apologized.

Yuzu shook her head. "No, no, like you said, this was a nice little family get-together. I love spending time with my family, and you being part of that is great, Shuhei." She faltered. "I just hope that in the future, you and I can sit by a camp fire without my siblings snoring in the background."

"I can't promise another camping trip (in all honesty I got my fill of the woods as a child), but I can promise that I'll make an effort in the future to do more couple things in the future with you. _Alone_." Hisagi said, casting a meaningful look at the nearby tents. Yuzu looked forward to the day Hisagi fulfilled this promise.

35\. Luxury

"Yuzu Kurosaki's birthday is coming up soon." Komamura remarked casually. "Have any ideas what you'll get her?" He asked. Hisagi's grip on his cup of tea grew tighter. "Komamura, I know you aren't much for romance, but do you have any idea what women like?" Hisagi asked rather than answering. Komamura gave him a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry, Hisagi." He said. Hisagi let out a long sigh.

"This is her first birthday since we got together. I want to get her something nice, something, I don't know, luxurious?" Hisagi lamented his plight. "Before, I would just take her to the world of the living to visit Karakura Town or Tokyo for a day, or simply to a nice restaurant for lunch. And when she was younger, I got her little things like hair clips or sweets. Now that we're in a relationship, I don't know what to do. What do men get their girlfriends for their birthdays?"

"Perhaps you could talk to Ichigo or Yuzu's sister Karin." Komamura suggested.

"That might make a poor impression, don't you think, Captain? I mean, shouldn't I just know what to get her?"

"True." Komamura hummed thoughtfully before smiling. "You could ask Captain Kuchiki. He was married once. And if he's unwilling, I'm sure Lieutenant Hinamori and Rangiku could be helpful. Those two are dear friends of Yuzu." He said.

"I suppose I could ask Captain Kuchiki, though I'd like to avoid crawling to Hinamori and Rangiku just yet. I feel like they'd be disappointed in me for not figuring out what to get Yuzu on my own." Hisagi admitted sheepishly. "Thank you for your advice, Captain."

Approaching Byakuya was the hardest part of asking him for advice, mostly because Hisagi had never been especially friendly with the man and finding an excuse to talk to him was difficult. Hisagi eventually paid him a visit at the Squad Six barracks after deciding fall pretenses might only annoy his fellow captain.

"Captain Kuchiki, I apologize for bothering you, but I'd very much like your advice on a personal matter." Hisagi started.

"And that would be?" Kuchiki replied.

"Well, Yuzu's birthday is coming up, and since we've gotten together recently, I'm unclear as to what I'm supposed to do now. Gift wise, I mean."

"And you come to me why exactly?"

"Well, you were married once, sir." Hisagi answered awkwardly. He hoped he wasn't overstepping his boundaries.

Kuchiki was quiet for several moments. "You truly care for Ms. Kurosaki, correct?" He finally asked.

"Of course." Hisagi replied without hesitation.

"Then the official status of your relationship has so bearing. Give her a gift that reflects how much your care for her, just as you always have, Captain Hisagi."

_That makes so much sense. I was an idiot to think anything needed changed. _"Thank you for the advice, sir." Hisagi said.

To commemorate Yuzu's sixty-first birthday, Hisagi cooked her her favorite meal, just the way she taught him.

* * *

**A/N: Yuzu is a simple person. She appreciates things like a home cooked meal way more than something luxurious. **

**Thank you for reading! Please review!**

**(PS. This story will only run for ten chapters, meaning 15 more prompts and then it's complete.)**


	8. Chapter 8

36\. Music

"They both sound horrible." Tsukino griped, cringing at the sound of her Captain playing his guitar terribly as usual and his girlfriend singing in what was certainly not harmony out in the latter's garden. Takumi, the third seat of their squad, dug out his ear plugs.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"I said they sound horrible." Said Tsukino.

"Oh come on, guys," Yuu, the fourth seat of the squad, interjected. "I think it's cute. They're like one of those cute couples in Captain Kyoraku's romance series in the _Seireitei Communication._" He gushed.

"First off, only you actually like that series in the whole seireitei. Second, I love the Captain and Yuzu just as much as the next guy. That doesn't make me deaf though." Replied Tsukino.

"No matter how much you wish that was the case." Takumi snarked. Tsukino rolled her eyes as the third seat chuckled at his own joke. Yuu gave them an unimpressed look.

"I guess some people just can't appreciate something adorable even when it's right in front of them." He sighed, crossing his arms.

"Tell that to all the guys I've gone out with in the last century." Tsukino grumbled. She glared daggers at Takumi when he started snickering.

37\. Fear

In the sixty-sixth, sixty-seventh, and sixty-eighth districts of West Rukon, there had been a series of disappearances, mostly children who were all well known in their districts for having high spiritual pressure and thus having to eat. As Squad Nine was in charge of two of those three districts, Hisagi sent his Lieutenant Tsukino and two others to investigate. They returned shortly and voiced strong suspicions that one or more hollows were responsible for the attacks. Clever ones at that since they had avoided detection for so many weeks.

"If all goes as planned, this will be resolved quickly. I'll be back within a week." Hisagi informed Yuzu the day Tsukino and the others reported back from Rukon District. Yuzu nodded understandingly. "I understand. I wish you the best of luck on your mission, Shuhei." She said quietly. Her eyes remained fixed on her lap and she wrung her hands anxiously, he observed. "Don't worry." Hisagi assured her. "It's just a hollow. After the Quincies and Arrancars, regular hollows are nothing."

"Shuhei, please don't tell me not to worry." Yuzu said, shaking her head at him. "I told you when we first met that it's a job I gladly accept to always be afraid for others." She reminded him.

"You're afraid for me?" Hisagi asked

"I have for a long time, even before I developed feelings for you." Yuzu informed him, smiling.

"Wow, I'm touched, Yuzu. Really." Said Hisagi, looking down with embarrassment. In all honesty, he felt bad for not realizing earlier. It was in Yuzu's nature to take on responsibilities that others would consider burdensome, such as constant worry for others, as she would do virtually anything for those she cared about, ranging from her friends to her family to the children at the daycare.

"It's pretty silly of you, Shuhei, to not have realized." She pointed out. "I mean, you were the first friend I ever made here in the Soul Society and your job can be really dangerous. I'd have to be either pretty dense or really careless not to worry about you and all my other soul reaper friends."

"I guess since I became a Captain not long after we met that it just sort of slipped my mind that other people could worry about me still. In a way, I was too busy worrying about my duties and the well-being of my squad to really think about it."

"Neither of us would be doing our job if we weren't constantly worrying about others. I think it shows how responsible we both are." Yuzu chirped cheerily.

"That's a nice way of looking at it." Hisagi agreed.

38\. Smoking

"You wanna hear a funny story? The first and last compliment my mother gave my dad was that he looked cool when he smoked." Hisagi paused in his attempts to light his cigarette and looked over at Yuzu with confusion. _Is she trying to say I look cool? _He wondered. But that didn't make sense. She'd done nothing but wrinkle her nose at him when he lit up since he picked up the habit two months ago. She even refused to kiss him. "What are you trying to say?" He asked her point-blank. Yuzu's lips curled into a cat-like smile. "You can only pull off the punk rocker look to a certain point before you start looking like a grubby gang member, Hisagi." She informed him dryly.

39\. Exhaustion

"I swear I'm on the brink of drugging him." Yuzu huffed as Rangiku poured her her drink. "I've been on him for years now about not working himself so hard, but does he listen? No! I have to twist his arm to take a day off once in awhile. Getting him to go to bed at a decent hour is pretty much impossible, especially since I have to go home or Squad Four eventually. According to Tsukino he's never in bed before midnight and he's always up by six." Yuzu heaved a sigh and drowned her sake. Rangiku and Momo tutted sympathetically.

"Workaholics sound like robots." Said Rangiku. She turned to Momo. "The day I chain myself to my desk, I want you to put me in the psych ward of Squad Four."

"The day you become a workaholic is the day I launch a full scale investigation to find out what happened to the _real _Rangiku Matsumoto." Momo said laughingly. Rangiku laughed and slapped her friend lightly on the back. "That's even better!"

"Guys, I have an actual problem here!" Yuzu whined. "Hisagi is going to work himself into an earlier grave at this point." She puckered her lips thoughtfully. "Or wait...is two hundred and twenty-three earlier in the Soul Society?" She wondered aloud. Everything felt a bit fuzzy now, so if the answer was floating somewhere in her head, she was having trouble grasping it.

"You know what you should do, Yuzu?" Rangiku began, a slight slur in her perky voice. "Oh boy." Momo murmured. "Drag him to bed!" Rangiku exclaimed. Momo turned a shame-faced shade of red on Rangiku's behalf as Yuzu paled nervously.

"You mean like tucking him in before I go home myself?" Yuzu was hopeful that that was the case. Rangiku shook her head. "No. I mean like spend the night with him." She said matter-of-factly.

"Rangiku, I..."

"No pressure." Rangiku quickly said. "It's just a suggestion. I thought it'd be easier than slipping something into his coffee." She waved a dismissive hand. Yuzu shifted uncomfortably in her seat nonetheless. "Oh look what you've done, Rangiku." Said Momo as she circled the table to comfort her deeply embarrassed friend. Even drunk, Rangiku had the decency to look ashamed.

"Sorry, sorry. My bad. How about I swing by Squad Four and swipe some sedatives for you to make up for it?"

"Thanks, Rangiku, but I think I'll try my luck with some chamomile tea before I do anything brash. And thanks for your advice, even if it was a little...R rated." Said Yuzu.

40\. Engagement

"Yuzu?" A voice called out. And then again, louder. Yuzu stopped and turned around, wondering who could have known her all the way out in the sixtith district of East Rukon. Her first time visiting there was that day. A small part of her hoped, for a brief instance, that it was her mother, but the voice was too different. A woman with long dark hair and a bright smile ran towards her. "Yuzu! It's me, remember?" She called out.

It took a moment for Yuzu to recognize her, but when she did, she smiled broadly. "Midoriko!" She cheered, opening her arms to the other woman. The old friends embraced in the downtrodden marketplace. A few citizens of the toughened district population stopped and watched the reunion. It wasn't often that people who knew each other when they were alive managed to find each other again.

"Yuzu, it's been such a long time!" Midoriko said when they separated. "I tried to see you when I died, after I found out the truth about your brother and why your family disappeared, but since I couldn't prove I knew you when I was alive, no one would let me see you." She hurriedly explained herself.

Yuzu realized with a start how young her friend looked. "When did you die? You don't look any different from when I last saw you at the school!"

Midoriko cringed as she responded: "I should have paid attention to those 'Don't text and drive' adverts."

"Oh, Midoriko, you've been out here so long. I'm so sorry." Yuzu said, feeling guilty for not even having thought to maybe one day look for one of her old friends. Naively, the thought that one of them may have died prematurely had never crossed her mind. She wondered if one day Karin would run into one of the boys she played soccer with, and about Ichigo's friends from school. "It's fine, Yuzu, I'm just so glad to see you again." Midoriko said. "We should definitely catch up sometime. Would now be alright, actually?"

"Of course, Midoriko."

As Yuzu found out moments later, Midoriko had died a mere six months after she and Yuzu met by the bike racks of their old middle school over forty-five years ago. As she said previously, once she learned the truth about Ichigo, and by extension, what really became of the Kurosaki family, she tried to get in contact with Yuzu, only to be rebuffed at all avenues. She eventually gave up and joined a family of choice in District 60 of East Rukon, with whom she'd been living a happy life ever since.

"You should meet my sons. They have high spiritual pressure and dream of being soul reapers. I just know they'll grow up to be fine young men." Midoriko gushed when the topic of her adopted children came up. "What about you, Yuzu? Do you have any children or a husband?" She asked, a curious glimmer in her dark eyes.

"Almost!" Yuzu answered her friend excitedly.

"Almost?" Midoriko parroted.

"You see, I've recently gotten engaged." Midoriko squealed, much to Yuzu's delight.

"That's great, Yuzu! You have to tell me all about your fiancee and how you two got together."

"Well, uh...you remember that punk from the day I left, and the last time I saw you as well?" Yuzu asked.

"Oh my Goodness! Please tell me he isn't really your cousin! I know things can be archaic here but-"

"No, no, no! That was a lie, I swear. Shuhei and I are totally unrelated." Yuzu cut off her old friend. Midoriko sighed with relief.

"That's good to hear. So is he a soul reaper then?" She then asked.

"Yes, the Captain of Squad Nine actually; Captain Shuhei Hisagi."

"Wow, Yuzu, you really know how to pick 'em. Or wait, did you pick him at all? I heard you were related to one of the most powerful clans in the Soul Society, the Shiba's and that your brother and father are super important and powerful soul reapers. Not to sound rude, but was your marriage arranged?" Midoriko softly inquired. "Of course not. I chose Shuhei for myself and he chose me. No one pushed us together because of our social rankings." Yuzu stated firmly.

"That sounds romantic, Yuzu. How did you two get together? People age really slowly here, so I'm guessing you didn't get together too soon after you left Karakuro Town."

"I'm really glad aging takes forever here. Otherwise I would have been an old woman by the time Hisagi and I got together. I'm about to turn sixty-two and Shuhei and I only got together as a couple a year and a half ago."

"It seriously took you forty-six years to get together?!" Midoriko squawked.

"In our defense, I only started feeling that way towards him after twenty-five years! And he had a thing for this female lieutenant for a majority of that time as well. Even managed to go on a date with her once." Yuzu couldn't help but wilt a little at the memory. She didn't have feelings for Hisagi beyond friendship back then (she'd had her own crush on Hanataro in fact), but it still stung to think she could have lost any chance at all with him in the future if Rangiku hadn't gently rejected having a further relationship with him after that single date.

"Earth to Yuzu!" Midoriko shouted in her ear, making Yuzu jolt. "Sorry. I was thinking is all." She said. "I'm sure." Replied Midoriko. "Moving along, if you two took so long to fall in love, and then spent so long simply pining after each other, why are you in such a rush to get married?"

"For exactly those reasons you just gave. We've spent nearly half a century chasing our tails and we're just tired of it." Yuzu explained.

"Is that really a good reason to get married?"

"We think so." Yuzu answered.

"I suppose that's what matters." Midoriko responded hesitantly.

* * *

**A/N: Not everyone agrees with our titular's couple's reasons for tying the knot. **

**Please review! And send prompts if you like as well! Just ten more to go and the series is over!**


	9. Chapter 9

41\. Uniforms

"Shuhei! Check out what my dad just gave me!" Yuzu cried as she barged into his sleeping quarters. Hisagi thought it was a bit ironic that the person who had encouraged him to start taking afternoon naps was now interrupting them. Nonetheless, he was always happy to see Yuzu. "What is it?" Hisagi asked, looking at her hands to see if she was holding something.

She wasn't, nor did she take anything out of her pockets. Instead, she crossed her arms and gave him an irritated glower. "_Shuhei_." She murmured warningly. Hisagi cringed, knowing there was something he was supposed to be noticing but wasn't. On instinct, his gaze wandered to her hair, thinking maybe her father got her a new accessory, but no such luck. Her long light brown hair was in its usual low-pony-tail.

"I'm wearing a squad uniform, Shuhei." Yuzu finally sighed. Hisagi looked down at her outfit to see she indeed was wearing a plain squad uniform with the pink smock she usually wore while working the daycare. Yuzu twirled in a small circle for his viewing pleasure and grinned at him, her irritation quickly forgotten. "So what do you think?" She asked.

"I think you look lovely. The uniform doesn't really have anything to do with it though." Hisagi laughed as Yuzu gave him a light swat on the chest. He gave himself a mental pat on the back for getting better at dishing out compliments; Rangiku and Momo would be proud. "Be serious." Yuzu chided him as she giggled into her hand. "All right, but that doesn't change anything really. I think it's looks really good on you, Yuzu." Said Hisagi, beaming at his fiance as her smile broadened.

42\. Hospital

Vaccinations weren't exactly common practice in the Soul Society. When a certain illness descended upon the Rukon District and Seireitei, the best anyone could do was hope they wouldn't get it. People with high spiritual pressure hardly worried at all, since their immune systems were generally better than most. Children and the elderly, as well as those with lower spiritual pressure, were a different story.

"It's times like these that I realize how backwards the Soul Society can be." Yuzu lamented, barely finishing her sentence before falling victim to yet another sneezing fit. Hisagi stepped away from her bedside and the line of fire. Once Yuzu recovered, he returned to his previous position and handed his fiancee a box of tissues from her bedside table. "In the world of the living, we vaccinate children. That's why whole daycares don't end up bedridden there." Yuzu said, taking the box with a thankful smile.

"Maybe you should introduce yet another human child-rearing custom to the Soul Society." Said Hisagi. "Daycare really isn't a child-rearing custom so much as babysitting in mass. Still, I suppose that would be a great project to take on once we're married. I mean, right now, I'm busy planning our wedding, so I'll need something to do with my free time after the wedding." Yuzu's sickly pale face became pinched with thought.

"What's wrong?" Hisagi asked worriedly.

"Nothing." Yuzu said in a stuffy-nosed voice. "Just thinking about what the girls said when I last talked to them about the wedding. Forget it, Shuhei, they just-" Whatever Yuzu was about to say next would remain unknown for a long time, as she was overtaken by a half-sneezing-half-coughing fit at that moment that would take several minutes to recover from. By the time it passed, the previous conversation was forgotten.

43\. Battle

Yuzu rarely stayed at the Squad Nine barracks past nine o'clock, even after she started dating Hisagi. She once dared to stay until midnight trying to coax Hisagi to go to bed earlier and her intentions ended up misconstrued to say the least. After that, ten o'clock became her solid "I have to go now" time. However, once in awhile, there'd be a night where Yuzu wouldn't leave the barracks under threat of death.

Those nights were the nights Hisagi went off to fight, and Yuzu refused not to be there when he returned (as she always assured herself he would when he was gone).

It was always a great relief to see him enter his office or the courtyard with Tsukino and other squad members in tow. It was a hundred times better than waving the last child off at the end of a particular arduous day at the daycare, and it could only be topped by seeing her siblings and father come back from their own battles.

Hisagi's returns weren't without their downfalls, however.

"Please keep your eyes closed." Hisagi quietly implored her as he entered his sleep quarters, where Yuzu had chosen to await his return this night. Yuzu nodded, heeding his request, and tried to school her expression. When Hisagi said that to her, when anyone said that to Yuzu really, it meant only one thing: he was covered in blood. It could be his own or it could be the blood of some 80th district thug; either way, Hisagi didn't want her to see it.

"Are you injured?" Yuzu whispered, not being able to contain her worry.

"No." Hisagi said with no further elaboration.

She heard him in the back of the room, opening the small wardrobe. Fabric slipping from skin and falling to the floor. His private bathroom's door opening and closing. Yuzu dared to open her eyes and look at the pile of clothes Hisagi left behind. In the soft candle light of the room, she could only make out the faintest splashes of red in the black and white fabric of his squad uniform. His captain's haori was carefully folded up so she couldn't see what damaged had been done to it.

The faucet in the bathroom ran for only a few moments before Yuzu heard it stop and the door opened again. Her eyes snapped shut as Hisagi stepped out of the bathroom. She listened as he dressed in fresh clothes. "I'm done." He announced and she opened her eyes once again.

"Can I touch you now?" Yuzu asked. Hisagi nodded his assent and Yuzu was quick to embrace him and press a kiss to his lips. She hated his no-touching rule most of all. He had good reasons, yes, not wanting her to get covered in blood from his battle, but it still hurt to have to wait to welcome him back properly.

"I hate that you make me keep my eyes closed." Yuzu complained into the crook of his neck, as she did every time this happened. Hisagi buried his face in her hair, which was a mess since she'd accidentally dozed off while waiting for him earlier. "I don't want you to ever see me like that, Yuzu." He murmured. "If I can help it, you won't." He said so resolutely that Yuzu wondered if this was a battle she would truly never win.

44\. Wedding

Three months before their set wedding date and after a year long engagement, Captain Hisagi and Miss Kurosaki (not to be confused with her sister, Miss Kurosaki the Seventh Seat of Squad Ten) called off their engagement, an incident that sparked gossiping all over the seireitei and the lower-numbered districts of the Rukon District. Opinions and reasons why the engagement was called off varied drastically.

"I heard they had a huge argument over Captain Hisagi's pretty lieutenant Aiko Tsukino." said a member of Squad Three.

"The Shiba's want to secure their position as the Fifth Great Noble Family. A Captain is prestigious and all, but they think they can get a better match for the girl. Like Byakuya Kuchiki, who's a Captain _and _the head of Great Noble Family." Said a member of Squad One.

"Listen, I think everyone's jumping to the wrong conclusion. I heard they're still together. They just decided not to get married so quickly." Said a member of Squad Ten.

"Captain Kurosaki Senior put his foot down finally about his daughter marrying that punk, I bet." One denizen of Rukon District speculated.

"I've heard some things about the Kurosaki girl wandering the districts. Makes you wonder what a girl like her has been up to." Said a low-ranking noble.

"They seemed like such a great couple!" A member of Squad Five bemoaned.

Whatever people thought, this is how things really went down, according to Lieutenant Tsukino:

Yuzu arrived at the Squad Nine barracks one afternoon, having returned from an expedition to the Rukon District in search of her mother. Her mood was immediately noted by half the squad as rather nervous. As usual, she went directly to Hisagi's office. Lieutenant Tsukino had her ear pressed to the door for what happened next.

There was some meaningless chatter and a brief tango around the subject that clearly has been weighing on Yuzu's mind before finally the girl came out and asked, "Why exactly are we getting married?" Hisagi stumbled over his response. Love, he said. Because they didn't want to wait another forty years for a relationship upgrade, he added.

"Are those good reasons?" Yuzu asked. "I mean...I love you, Shuhei, but should we really be getting married just for the sake of getting it over with. I mean, we make it sound so inevitable, which is nice to think and I would love it if that were the case, but why are we treating it like a chore we just want over with?"

"It made sense in theory to just do it already." Said Hisagi.

"In practice, though, I think I don't want to get married like this, Shuhei. I'd be happier, actually, waiting forty years, as long as it means we get there on the scenic route rather than the fast track. I think we should let things progress naturally and not force the issue."

"You want to break off our engagement."

"I guess that'd be easier than postponing our wedding forty years...You seem really disappointed. I promise this isn't cold feet, Shuhei. I want to be your wife someday, but I don't want us doing this all for the wrong reasons either."

"I guess I was just looking forward to doing all those husband-wife things together. Part of the reason I was on board with getting married so soon is because I wanted to do them."

"Well...we don't have to be officially married to act like a married couple, Shuhei. Just look at Karin and Naoki."

"Are you...are you saying what I think you're saying?"

Yuzu got flustered then, and it was at that point that Tsukino fled the scene.

45\. Victory

Yuzu tried not to hope. She knew how Hisagi could be, and this battle had been waged between them for nearly fifty years, even before they became a couple. She didn't dare hope that moving in with him would suddenly make him _not _workaholic.

So, understandably, her heart nearly skipped a beat when the front door slid open and a tired version of a familiar voice called out, "I'm home." Yuzu poked her head out of the kitchen into the sitting room, which Hisagi entered just as she did so. He looked tired and practically collapsed to the floor, using a sitting cushion as an impromptu pillow.

Yuzu glimpsed at the clock on the wall. Eight o'clock.

He'd made it home just in time for dinner.

Yuzu had to bite her lip to contain a cry of victory.


	10. Chapter 10

46\. Mystery

"I heard Yuzu's been sick lately. Some mysterious illness, they say." Kira commented sympathetically as he accompanied Hisagi to the Senzaikyu for the Captains' and Lieutenants' meetings. "Yeah," Hisagi confirmed the rumor. "I took her to Squad Four this morning to get checked out. I'm sure she'll be fine."

"You aren't worried at all?" Kira asked, looking at Hisagi in surprise.

"Of course I'm worried." In so small part thanks to Captain Kuchiki's story of what happened to his wife Hisana, who like Yuzu tended to wander the Rukon District tirelessly when not taking on difficult tasks, like running a noble household or a daycare full of small children.

"I wouldn't worry too much." Iba called out, approaching them. "After all, something nice may just come of this 'mysterious illness'." He added, giving Hisagi a nudge with his elbow. Hisagi and Kira exchanged questioning looks. "What do you mean, Iba?" Kira asked.

Iba rolled his eyes behind his sunglasses, Hisagi was sure of it.

"Come on, you guys. I heard Yuzu was puking her guts out over at Squad Four this morning, and that she's been tired really easy when playing with the children." Iba said, each word like a prod at both Hisagi and Kira to get _something _through their thick heads already.

It honestly wasn't that hard to see what the lieutenant was getting at.

"Yuzu is _not_ pregnant." Hisagi snapped perhaps a little too loudly. He turned a bit red at the way Iba smiled at him.

"She could be." Kira pointed out quietly. "It's a possibility."

"Or she could have the flu, or any of the hundred other illnesses out there that make you vomit and tired easily." Despite his words, Hisagi was forced to watch Iba and Kira exchange amused smiles, and every smile sent his way throughout the rest of the day was tainted by embarrassment, as Hisagi strongly suspected Iba and Kira weren't alone in their line of thinking.

It was worse the next day, when they each knew they'd been right.

Iba and the rest of the men's association tried to throw a party.

47\. Gift

"Please."

"No, Dad."

"Pretty please, Yuzu."

"_No_, Dad."

"Oh come on! Your brother and sister will never name a kid after me; you're my last hope!"

"Dad, leave her alone." Ichigo interjected, glowering at his father.

"What she names her child is hers and Hisagi's business." Said Karin, joining her brother in glaring at their father. Isshin remained unperturbed and pressed forth with annoying the hell out of his youngest. Yuzu busied herself with braiding Mikan's long strawberry-blond hair, pointedly ignoring her father's pleads.

"I'd change my name to Isshin for you, grandpa!" Mikan cheered, smiling brightly at her grandfather. Tears glimmered in the corner of Isshin's eyes as he returned his adorable granddaughter's smile. "Oh, Mikan! At least you love me!" Isshin exclaimed, plucking the girl up from the floor of Yuzu's sitting room and swing her about. Mikan visibly regretted her words of comfort and looked to her father for help. In a flash, Ichigo rescued Mikan from Isshin's clutches and had the girl sitting in his lap. Isshin pouted at his son as he sullenly re-seated himself at the tea table.

"Fine, fine. You can't blame a guy for trying though, can you?" Isshin said, serious now. The Kurosaki siblings all spared their father a smile. They all liked him best when he wasn't being a total goof ball. "It would have been a nice gift to your dear old dad, you gotta admit." Isshin added, grinning. "Give it a rest, Dad." Karin sighed.

"Actually," Yuzu began, and all eyes focused on her. "Shuhei and I were planning for the baby's name to be a gift...or really a tribute to someone." She explained.

"Who?" Ichigo asked curiously.

Yuzu hesitated, and then, instead of actually answering, she said, "If we have a boy, we've decided to name him Masahiro, with the kanji for 'justice prospers'."

48\. Honor

"It's funny how almost immediately after deciding not to get married, you get pregnant." Kukaku laughed and gave Yuzu's hair a playful tussle as if she were still a little girl. "I guess nature had different plans for you and Hisagi." She said. Yuzu gave Kukaku a sheepish smile.

"Kukaku, aren't we supposed to be planning a party?" Karin cut in, giving her cousin an exasperated look. Kukaku waved a dismissive hand. "We have seven whole months to plan, Karin. I swear you spend too much time with that uptight Captain of yours." Karin narrowed her eyes at Kukaku and held up a large poster board riddled with colored post-its and diagrams, numbers, names, and dates. "Well it's a lot to plan. The heads of the other four Great Noble Families are going to attend, as well as the Captains, a ton of lower-ranked nobles, members of Central 46, and rich people." Karin said, gesturing to the poster board.

Yuzu was felt a bit overwhelmed. "Do we really have to invite so many people?" She asked. "They'll invite themselves if we don't. And we can't afford to not host the party, I'll admit." Kukaku sighed. "The Shiba Clan is on shakey footing, as we haven't been restored to our noble status very long. Parties like this one for your child and the one we threw to honor Mikan's birth are important because they give us a chance to brown-nose and network, as well as show off a little."

"This didn't seem so daunting when Mikan was on the way." Yuzu lamented.

Kukaku and Karin chuckled and shook their heads. "It'll be easier this time around, trust me." Said Kukaku. "If things become overwhelming, just keep in mind that half of the Soul Society will be lining up to kiss your ass as well as your baby's ass in seven months." Yuzu burst out laughing. "Well, when you put it like that!" She snickered into her hands.

49\. Nest

"Aunt Yuzu?" Mikan asked uneasily. Yuzu gently shooed away the children crowding her to show her their cute little drawings and gave her niece her full attention. "Yes, Mikan?"

"Remember when I climbed that tree outside of yours and Uncle Shuhei's cottage?" Mikan asked. Yuzu did remember. She'd nearly had a heart attack when she came outside to put the laundry out to dry only to find her niece hanging from, of course, the highest and thinnest possible branch on the entire tree. Yuzu had summoned up years of experience to give Mikan the most authoritative order possible to climb down _immediately_. "Of course I remember, Mikan. You had me so worried." Yuzu answered.

Mikan shuffled her feet awkwardly and avoided Yuzu's gaze. "Do you remember that bird's nest I found on the way down?" She whispered. Yuzu's brows began to knit themselves together. "Yes...why do you ask?"

Mikan grew bright red.

"And do you remember when I asked if people laid eggs like birds to have babies?" The girl asked, eyes trained on her feet. Yuzu smothered a giggle. "Oh you poor thing!" She managed without laughing. Mikan let out a prolonged groan. "I hate how adults lie and then laugh at us kids when we believe them." She grumbled petulantly. Yuzu hugged her as she tried to restrain her giggling with the help of her niece's hair.

40\. Blank

"Why do people stare at our son?" Yuzu asked Hisagi as the pair strolled towards the Squad Nine headquarters after paying Ichigo a lunchtime visit at Squad Eight. Yuzu looked thoughtfully upon the infant swaddled in her arms. Hisagi joined her in his endeavor.

He honestly hadn't noticed that people stared at Masahiro, and he didn't see any reason why they would. Masahiro was a perfectly normal baby, according to Squad Four and all Hisagi's earlier knowledge of babies, lacking as that was. He was a seven pound, three ounce ball of cute with dark hair that didn't do much aside from eat and snooze his days away peacefully, as all babies should.

"Maybe they just think he's really cute." Hisagi suggested.

Yuzu shook her head. "No. When people see him, especially the first time, they always seem to do a double-take. I wonder why." She said, continuing her pensive examination of her son.

"Let's ask." Hisagi declared, knowing this mystery might only succeed in worrying Yuzu senseless that something was off about their child. "I guess." Yuzu murmured uncertainly.

They waved over the first soul reaper they came across, which happened to be Rikichi of Squad Six. "What is it, Captain Hisagi?" Rikichi addressed Hisagi as he approached. He gave Yuzu a polite bow of his head. "Yuzu and I wanted to get your opinion on something." Said Hisagi. Rikichi blinked in surprise. "My opinion?"

"Yes, well," Yuzu shifted Masahiro's sleeping form in her arms, bringing him to Rikichi's attention. "People are always giving our baby funny looks. Is there something strange about Masahiro?" She inquired worriedly. Rikichi looked between the Captain, his lover, and their child with astonishment. Finally, he gave Masahiro a good long look.

When he was done, he gave the parents a sheepish smile.

"I think I may know the problem." He said, and then pointed at Hisagi's face with a grin. "Considering who his father is, I think people are weirdly surprised that Masahiro came out blank." Rikichi explained.

"Blank." Hisagi and Yuzu parroted in unison, both utterly befuddled by what they'd just heard.

* * *

**A/N: That last one was inspired by Tumblr. **

**Thank you for reading! Please read and review!**


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